It doesn't roar, but it sure flies

Can you win a Unicorn? from One Shot Film Festival on Vimeo.

Times are tough [or so we’re constantly told] – marketing and media budgets are hitting rock bottom. But does this mean the end of TV and film advertising? Not a chance!

For a start, there’s more and more money pouring into online advertising, and there’s nothing an online audience likes more than moving pictures. The cutbacks just mean that us creatives have to be cleverer with the ideas – ads can still be amusing, involving, and make as much of a point without the big budgets.

So we thought it was time to celebrate simple cleverness in advertising. The Cannes awards are very fine, we all value our own Lions and hope to get more – the Unicorns will be something quite different.


--------------------- \ "The Unicorn Awards" / ---------------------

"The Brangelina industry"

An interesting tactic:
"(Jennifer Aniston) has been known to wear the same outfit for days, to reduce the market value of paparazzi shots" in The Guardian.

"Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior"

Marketing is now “the most dominant force in human culture”, claims Darwinian psychologist Geoffrey Miller.

"Food for thought"

"Despite what many marketers and retailers may think, it’s not all about price — consumers find value in feeling smart about purchase decisions and investing in brands they trust."
-- Andrew Benett, Global Chief Strategy Officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide

"They won't remember"

Client: Association France Alzheimer
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Paris

Today's videoclip

"TV, media and culture"

Classic! The Marshall McLuhan cameo in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall".

"Food for thought"

"Logos have become less official-looking and more conversational. “They’re not yelling. They’re inviting. They’re more neighborly."
-- Patti Williams, Wharton School

"Worst job ever"

Client: UOL Portal
Agency: Borghierh/Lowe

"Ride my star"

Cool videoclip by Devilfish using "augmented reality".

"The eternal return"

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

[Via: Dullneon]

"Ken Block"

Crazy s**t.
Five minutes of pure joy and burnt tyres.
Hell I'm breathless.

[Via: Ypsilon2]

"Messenger"

Client: Telefónica Moviles
Agency: Y&R, Perú

"The Poverty of Attention"

"Google is making us stupid, multitasking is draining our souls, and the “dumbest generation” is leading us into a “dark age” of bookless “power browsing.” Adopting the Internet as the hub of our work, play, and commerce has been the intellectual equivalent of adopting corn syrup as the center of our national diet, and we’ve all become mentally obese."

With non-stopping and hyperstimulating YouTubian/Facebookian lifes, do we still have to time to stop and think?

[Source: NY Mag]

"The New High-end Consumer"

(Not very)Long were the days where the posh and bourgeois Ladies used to hide their Asda shopping in Harrod's bags.

Or buy a button at Hermès just to be able to stroll around in the posh avenues with the unmistakable orange bag.

The new "premium-frugality" is so in, isn't it?.

[Via: Wharton@Knowledge]

"To Mr. Cheng"

How to annoy the people from the post office > "To Mr. Cheng"

Our castle

[Pic via Flickr]

What does our home say about us? How do we live it:
sleeping place? next day battery-charger? "cocooning"? family and social hub?

[Source: Financial Times "Armchair psychology"]

Today's videoclip

WOOD from mc bess on Vimeo.

Does honesty sell?

"Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success."


Ad written around 1900 by the famed polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.

One question: in today's context of consumer cepticism and distrut, would plain honesty without the hyperbolic adjectives we're used to hear on brands' speeches, be the best and more effective way to reach people?

"Food for thought"

"If thinking is an intellectual response to a problem, then the absence of a problem leads to the absence of thinking."

-- Theodore Levitt, Marketing Myopia (1960)

"Live news"

Client: France 24
Agency: Marcel, Paris

"The end of advertising"

"The end of advertising as we know it" (again?)

Imagine an advertising world where... spending on interactive, one-to-one advertising formats surpasses traditional, one-to-many advertising vehicles, and a significant share of ad space is sold through auctions and exchanges. Advertisers know who viewed and acted on an ad, and pay based on real impact rather than estimated "impressions." Consumers self-select which ads they watch and share preferred ads with peers. User-generated advertising is as prevalent (and appealing) as agency-created spots.

Based on IBM global surveys of more than 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising experts, we see four change drivers shifting control within the industry.

"Citations"

[Via: Flickr]

Marching against the rivals

Client: Country Life
Agency: Grey, London

"Stronger than you think"

Client: Associação Salvador
Agency: Fischer Portugal

"Cards of change"

"There's more talent out on the streets than ever before. Brilliant people looking to reshape their country, build their career and perhaps even grow your business."

[Via: Adverblog]

"Dealing with Recessionary Times"

I am constantly asked for "strategies/'secrets' for surviving the recession." I try to appear wise and informed—and parade original, sophisticated thoughts. But if you want to know what's going through my head, read the list below:

You work longer.
You work harder.
You may well work for less; and, if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile—even if it kills you inside.
You volunteer to do more.
You always bring a good attitude to work.

"Irresistibly smooth"

Client: Braun
Agency: BBDO Düsseldorf

What if ... ?

\\ What if Starbucks became a retail bank?//

Spotify

Spotify – the story from Spotify on Vimeo.

"Food for thought"

"Advertising is still largely concerned with shiny stereotypes that alienate many peopple by presenting ideals they can never live up to."
-- Adam Ferrier, consumer psychologist Naked

"Real Life Adventures"

Real Life Adventures by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich

"Britain's Forgotten Children"

"Inspired Bicycles"

"Food for thought"

"Begin strongly. Have a theme, use a simple language. Leave a picture in the listener's mind. End drammaticaly."
-- Winston Churchill

Growing pains

"Not only have private label brands been gaining share for the past decade, experts say these gains are the single-biggest problem facing branded packaged goods players. House brands, once a staple of lower-income households, now enjoy roughly equal penetration among demographic segments. Improvements in quality and packaging have helped removed the stigma attached to buying a no-name product."

"Private labels": What was considered before as a need, is today a consumer choice.

"Carousel"

------------------- [www.cinema.philips.com ] -------------------

"Enjoy daily"

Client: Dutch Comedy Central channel
Agency: Modernista!

Hello "oportunity"!

by Leo Burnett, Lisbon

"Food for thought"

“Vertical thinking is digging the same hole deeper. Lateral thinking is trying again elsewhere.”
-- Edward De Bono